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Liberty Oilfield’s IPO Sets Optimistic Tone For 2018

If Liberty Oilfield Services Inc.’s (NYSE: LBRT) upsized IPO is any indication, predictions of 2018 being the “year of the service sector” just might have some legs. The industry’s first IPO of the year soared nearly 28% from its $17 opening on the New York Stock Exchange Jan.12, hovering around $21.80 in mid-afternoon trading.

All told, the Denver-based company raked in roughly $216 million. It was a good showing for an IPO that almost made its debut last spring. Liberty was one of five oilfield services providers that filed IPOs in the first five months of 2017 but pulled back because of low oil prices at the time.

“The market wasn’t good and we didn’t need to do it,” Chris Wright, Liberty Oilfield’s chairman and CEO, told Hart Energy. “We just figured we’d wait until the market was more reasonable, and the market is.”